18
18
18
feel
s rejected and complains miserably about her unbruised condition.
It is a sign, she is certain, that her husband does not love her.34
Yanomamo men have two great sports--hunting and war. The
patterns of their warfare bear a strange resemblance to those of the
langur. Yanomamo men sneak up on a neighboring village and attack.
If they are successful, they kill or chase away the men. They leave the
sexually-capable young women unharmed. But they move
methodically through the lean-to-like homes, grabbing babies from the
screaming captives. Like the langurs, the Yanomamo men beat these
infants against the ground, bash their brains out on the rocks, and
make the footpaths wet with babies' blood. They spear the older
children with the sharp ends of their bows, pinning their quivering
bodies to the ground. Others they simply throw from the edge of a
cliff. To the Yanomamo, this an exhilarating entertainment. They brag
and boast as they smash fresh newborns against the stones. When the
winning warriors have finished, not a single suckling child remains.
Then the triumphant Yanomamo men lead the captured women back
to a new life as secondary wives.35 No wonder the Yanomamo word
for marriage means "dragging something away."36
What have the Yanomamo victors accomplished? The same
thing the langurs did. They have freed the females from the biochemi-
cal birth control device that keeps a suckling woman from bearing new
progeny. The Yanomamo fighters have made the wombs of their
captured consorts available to carry fresh children...their children.
The Yanomamo are not some strange aberration dragged out of
the jungle to illustrate a far-fetched point. In the early fourth century,
Eusebius --the first historian of the Christian Church-- summarized
what the study of history had focused on until his time: war, slaughters
for the sake of country and children.37 Hugo Grotius in 1625 published
De Jure Belli ac Pacis (Concerning The Law of War and Peace), a book that
tried to make Christian war more humane. In it, Grotius justified
killing children. He cited the 137th psalm, which said, "Happy shall he
be who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock." So Grotius
was well aware of two things. That killing the children of the people
<< < GO > >>
18
18
18
feel
s rejected and complains miserably about her unbruised condition.
It is a sign, she is certain, that her husband does not love her.34
Yanomamo men have two great sports--hunting and war. The
patterns of their warfare bear a strange resemblance to those of the
langur. Yanomamo men sneak up on a neighboring village and attack.
If they are successful, they kill or chase away the men. They leave the
sexually-capable young women unharmed. But they move
methodically through the lean-to-like homes, grabbing babies from the
screaming captives. Like the langurs, the Yanomamo men beat these
infants against the ground, bash their brains out on the rocks, and
make the footpaths wet with babies' blood. They spear the older
children with the sharp ends of their bows, pinning their quivering
bodies to the ground. Others they simply throw from the edge of a
cliff. To the Yanomamo, this an exhilarating entertainment. They brag
and boast as they smash fresh newborns against the stones. When the
winning warriors have finished, not a single suckling child remains.
Then the triumphant Yanomamo men lead the captured women back
to a new life as secondary wives.35 No wonder the Yanomamo word
for marriage means "dragging something away."36
What have the Yanomamo victors accomplished? The same
thing the langurs did. They have freed the females from the biochemi-
cal birth control device that keeps a suckling woman from bearing new
progeny. The Yanomamo fighters have made the wombs of their
captured consorts available to carry fresh children...their children.
The Yanomamo are not some strange aberration dragged out of
the jungle to illustrate a far-fetched point. In the early fourth century,
Eusebius --the first historian of the Christian Church-- summarized
what the study of history had focused on until his time: war, slaughters
for the sake of country and children.37 Hugo Grotius in 1625 published
De Jure Belli ac Pacis (Concerning The Law of War and Peace), a book that
tried to make Christian war more humane. In it, Grotius justified
killing children. He cited the 137th psalm, which said, "Happy shall he
be who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock." So Grotius
was well aware of two things. That killing the children of the people
<< < GO > >>